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Shelburne Museum, Shelburne VT |
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Visitors to Burlington VT must make a detour south to the town of Shelburne to see the Shelburne Museum, a gala festival of Americana. |
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The Shelburne Museum's 37 historic buildings arranged on 45 acres, include an authentic one-room schoolhouse, six fully furnished early New England homes, a jail complete with stocks, an Adirondack hunting lodge, a print shop, and a lighthouse that once guided ships on Lake Champlain. The structures date from the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. Each was moved here from its original location in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, or Massachusetts, and all are now filled with the artifacts of earlier American life. The museum is said to have about the best and fullest collection of Americana ever assembled. Among the artifacts are a 1920s carousel, a round dairy barn (1901), and even the huge 220-foot sidewheel steamship SS Ticonderoga, docked here after its last run on the lake. Four art galleries feature paintings and sculpture by European and American artists (Andrew Wyeth, Grandma Moses, Ogden Pleissner, Rembrandt, Monet, Manet, Degas), and other buildings hold displays of folk art both charming and authentic: quilts, decoys, glassware, and furniture, plus the tools used to make these items. The museum has a cafeteria and snack bars, picnic tables, a bookshop, stores, and free parking. The Shelburne Museum is open daily, mid-May to mid-Oct daily. Go seven miles south of Burlington along US 7. What to See & Do in Burlington |
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 The Shaker Round Barn at Shelburne Museum, south of Burlington VT.
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